What are the different type of radios? - A quick guide 

Ever wondered how the audio show you are listening to on your mobile phone reaches from the radio station to your handset invisibly without the sim, wire, or internet?

Well, it’s all the magic of radio broadcasting. Your radio set or the radio fitted in your cell phones use the radio waves to carry the information like sound, music, etc. The technology was developed in 1885 to transfer information instead of telegraphs but soon it gets application in general broadcasting by 1920 and is still a great telecommunication medium.

With the passing time radio has evolved like other technologies and there are several types of radios available depending on the use and working.  So let’s have look at what are the different types of radios that are used nowadays.

Working principle 

Before getting into the types of radios first have an idea of how radio works.

The basic principle on which radio works is the transmission and receiving of electromagnetic waves which travel at the speed of light and carry information such as speech and music on it. The information is coded on the wave and frequency and coding depends on the type of radio you are using.

Type of radios

There are several many types of radios available now but the most important types are as follows.

1. Amplitude modulation (A.M)

This is by far the most used radio type and finds its application in general broadcasting. You have always listened to it on your radio sets about etc. channel on AM. Yes, you guessed it right the AM in the channel name stands for amplitude modulation.

In AM the electromagnetic wave is varied according to the amplitude of sound that is to be carried which is reconstructed at the receiving side to extract the information back.

The sound quality in the AM radios are not that good and usually, they pick up noise although the use of transistors in the circuit have made it better but still the sound quality is low.

2. Frequency Modulation (F.M)

FM radio is a household name when we talk about radio broadcasting. The frequency modulation is better in sound quality due to less noise interference. The FM radio works by alteration of carrier electromagnetic wave by the frequency of the sound wave.

 In this method, the strength of the signal doesn't get affected and there are lesser chances of noise addition in the signal.

FM radio is the most popular transmission medium and is loved by all.

3. Satellite radio

AM and FM radio channels are free to access by anyone having a radio receiver and once you set the required frequency you can easily catch the signals and listen to them. Well, this depends on how near you are to the boosting station and if the wave reaches you with good strength then you can get the transmission.

Satellite radio is the same but the commercial one, also the signal is not transmitted through boosting station but by satellites so it has a wider area of transmission. 

Now comes the receiving part so yes it's not free and the receiver set is also not common. You have to get a subscription and special receiver to receive the satellite radio stations. The radio signals are encrypted and can't be caught by any receiver set. The sound quality is very much better and less noise interference.

4. Walkie talkie

We all have played with this one in. The walkie talkies have one-way communication and use for short distances. They don't interfere with other radio signals so, for noise-free, shorter, and faster communication alike talkies are used. 

The range is about a mile and limited battery power so they find application in the military, kid's games or fire department, etc.

5. Short wave radio

Short wave radio broadcasting uses shorter radio frequencies and interact with the ionosphere in such a way that the signal travels thousands of miles. The short wave radio channels are commercial and are used to broadcast throughout the world.

6. Ham radio

These radio sets are somewhat similar to the shortwave radio but they require a license, training, and receiving sets. The frequencies of ham radio are set by federal authorities and are generally used in case of natural disasters, emergencies when the local communication system is out of work. 

The range of this radio system is also thousands of miles.

Hopefully, this article was helpful for you and now you have a clear idea about the types of radios that are available in the market. There are many radios sets available and you can have a look at the best 2-way radios on the market and start enjoying your favorite radio channels.